Insects/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby. Tim and Moby stand outside in the dark. Fireflies float around them. TIM: Cool, fireflies! Ah, it’s a little dark out here. Moby brings a bright jar containing fireflies closer to Tim. TIM: Ah … thanks. Tim reads the letter by the light of Moby's jar. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, Please make a movie about insects. Signed, Sean. Insects belong to the arthropod phylum, the same group that crabs and spiders belong to. An image shows a crab, spider, and centipede. TIM: Like all arthropods, insects are invertebrates, which mean they have no backbone. In fact, they have no internal skeleton at all! Instead, they have an exoskeleton, an outer shell made from a protein called chitin. It's like a suit of armor—good protection and flexible at the joints. An animation shows a beetle with a strong outer shell. It crawls away. TIM: The average insect body has three sections: the head, thorax, and abdomen. An animation shows a black ant. Three portions of the ant’s body are labeled as “head,” “thorax,” and “abdomen.” TIM: You can find six legs and sometimes sets of wings attached to the thorax. An insect senses touch, vibration, and air currents with little spines called sensilla. The animation shows the body of the ant. It is covered with small hair-like sensilla. TIM: Sensilla are made from chitin, with clusters of sensory receptor cells at the base. They’re super-sensitive; that’s how flies always know when you’re trying to swat them. An animation shows a fly in the middle of the screen. It flies away before a swatter can strike it. TIM: And a single insect can have thousands and thousands of them on its body. An animation shows a red insect covered in sensilla. TIM: A lot of insects also have flexible feelers called antennae. The animation shows the insect's head. It has two moving antennae. TIM: In addition to increasing the range of their sense of touch, many insects also use their antennae to smell. While some insects have simple eyes like us, others have complex arrays of optical sensors called compound eyes. An animation shows a dragonfly on a stem of grass. The dragonfly's eye has a pattern on it. TIM: The hundreds of lenses allow insects to see in many directions at once. An animation shows the dragonfly's point of view. It sees through a pattern of hexagons. Each hexagon displays an image of Moby’s face. TIM: Insects have a set of mouthparts called mandibles that they use to chew up food and even wood for nests. An animation shows another insect's face. It has two, claw-like mandibles near its mouth. TIM: Their abdomens are covered with jointed plates called spiracles, which let in air so the insects can breathe. An animation shows an insect's abdomen. It is covered by overlapping plates with holes for breathing. These plates are the spiracles. TIM: Bugs can't talk like we do, but they’re great communicators. Some species, like crickets, sing to each other by rubbing their legs and wings together. An animation shows two crickets on a leaf. They chirp messages to each other. TIM: And many social insects send out signals by releasing chemicals into the environment. The screen splits into four parts. Each section shows different insects communicating using chemicals. TIM: These might be used to sound an alarm, mark a trail, or even attract a mate! An animation shows Moby poking a beehive. TIM: Insects are everywhere! In almost all climates, in almost all parts of the world. Over time, they’ve evolved highly successful and specialized strategies for survival. Insects were the first animals on the planet to fly, and they'll probably outlast humans. Moby points to the beehive. The hive starts to shake. MOBY: Beep! TIM: Be quiet! With special adaptations like flight, camouflage, hard shells, and even poisonous stings you can see that insects have it made. And I bet you people could even learn something from the highly structured hives and colonies formed by social insects like ants, termites, and bees. The screen splits into four parts to show a city skyline, a honeycomb, an ant colony trail system, and a termite mound. MOBY: Beep. Moby inches closer to Tim. TIM: What’s your problem? MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, like I said, Moby, insects are everywhere. You can't escape them. Tim realizes that the bees are angry. TIM: Ooooh! You mean "escape" escape — right! Tim and Moby run away. A swarm of bees chases them. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Science Transcripts